Press Start
HomepagePress Start's Reviews
The Forza franchise is a prime example of a franchise that not only builds upon its strengths, but also learns and adapts from it weaknesses. Whilst Motorsport 5 served as a stepping stone onto current generation hardware, Forza Motorsport 6 excels and takes what the franchise has learned to form a racing game that is not only full of content, but also challenging and incredibly addicting. Building upon the foundations laid before it and applying a fresh new layer of features and visual effects, Forza Motorsport 6 might be a serious contender for 2015’s racing game of the year, if not the prime contender.
At the end of Uncharted 4, I was able to sit back and feel satisfied. Uncharted 4 is the perfect conclusion of Nathan Drake’s journey and swan song to one of PlayStation’s most successful franchises.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild will go down as one of the best launch titles of all time. Yes, technically it's a Wii U game that was ported over to the Nintendo Switch, but Nintendo made the right decision in holding this game back. It perfectly compliments the Nintendo Switch and highlights why it has the potential to be such a great and versatile console. Many have doubted Nintendo's ability to bring this series into the modern age of gaming, but they've done that and taken it one step further in creating one of the best open-world action-adventure games ever made.
ABZÛ is exactly what it appears to be – it's a linear game that encourages players to dive into its deep waters and interact with nature.
Firewatch is truly something special. It tells a beautifully crafted, character-driven, engaging story with impeccable pacing. It’s deeply reflective and thought provoking, not only in the context of its characters and their situations, but in a broader context of player interaction with video games.
Providing a deep, fun and addictive gameplay experience, Forza Horizon 3 is one of the best racing games of the generation.
Playdead's Inside is a masterpiece from beginning to end, and its Switch port is as good as you could hope for. It's another must-play title on Nintendo's hybrid, and is unlike anything I've ever played before.
Limbo, when I reviewed it all those years ago, was one of the few games that compelled me to reward it a perfect score. Inside isn’t just a marked improvement on Playdead’s formula, it smashes through the benchmark Limbo set tenfold, leaving me to ponder how a team so small can produce an experience so damn grand.
Red Dead Redemption 2 is a triumph in world-building, character craft and downright skulduggery. Being bad has never felt so good as Rockstar toe the realism line while still keeping their sharp, trademark tongue in cheek. It's the keen attention to detail where Rockstar succeeds and this outlaw prequel comfortably outperforms their best works and in time, I believe, will be regarded as a once in a generation game.
I don't know how Nintendo continues to do it, but they've managed to reinvent another classic franchise and push it further than imaginable. Super Mario Odyssey is the game that we've been waiting to play for more than 20 years. It feels like it borrows key elements from almost every Mario game that has come before it to create what is possibly not only the greatest Mario game, but one of the best 3D platformers of all time.
Whilst I think that it's a little bit overpriced (and should include Bayonetta 1 on a physical cartridge), it's almost impossible to deny the brilliance of both Bayonetta games. Bayonetta herself is one of the sassiest characters in gaming and the combat is simply better than any hack and slash action game that I've ever played (and still is to this day). The game is only made better by the enhanced performance and portability provided by the Nintendo Switch and it's one that every Switch owner should have in their collection.
It's hard to fault Marvel's Spider-Man as Insomniac has taken their game to the next level. As a developer, they have gone from strength to strength and Spider-Man is a culmination of their past hits. There's a stunning verticality that compliments the game's watertight mechanics and, despite the literal boundaries, still makes the city seem boundless. If you're a Marvel die-hard, there's enough fanfare here to sink a ship as Spider-Man emerges as the new gold standard. Spider-Man is, without question, the best superhero game ever.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is ultimate in every sense of the word. World of Light is fantastic, Challenge Mode is satisfying and there's so much love and detail in absolutely everything in the game.
Resident Evil 2 takes a masterpiece and twists it until it resembles something completely new without betraying the spirit of the original.
The sheer visual variety on display here is staggering, from snow-capped peaks and frozen lakes to icy caverns covered in stalactites with fish perma-frosted into the ground. Hoarfrost Reach is a visual feast in a game that’s chock-full of them and provides a unique aesthetic not found in the vanilla game.
Doom Eternal is a bigger and better sequel in practically every way.
Microsoft Flight Simulator is a game that you have to play to understand just how incredible of an experience it is. It's an incomparable adventure that consistently surprises and delights. The game provides you with all the tools necessary to conquer the unthinkable task of flying the plane. Asobo has laid an incredible platform that will provide hours upon hours of joy for both casual gamers and flight experts alike, and it's only upwards from here.
Microsoft Flight Simulator is a game that you have to play to understand just how incredible of an experience it is. It's an incomparable adventure that consistently surprises and delights. The game provides you with all the tools necessary to conquer the unthinkable task of flying the plane. Asobo has laid an incredible platform that will provide hours upon hours of joy for both casual gamers and flight experts alike, and it's only upwards from here.
Unpacking is proof that a pixel tells a thousand words. Through simple, zen gameplay and a startling attention to detail a story unfolds in this tiny, pixelated world in a way that just wouldn't have been possible in another medium. That's truly something special on its own – a wholly unique and original narrative experience – and the fact that it's wrapped up in an incredibly cathartic and tangible puzzle game makes it all the more praiseworthy. Witch Beam has something incredible on their hands with this one.
Horizon Forbidden West is an exceedingly clever sequel, a deep and addictive action RPG, a dense world that unfolds with an impeccable sense of pace, a visual tour de force and the masterful delivery of a promising concept.